Guerrilla
by 125berribe
Summary: From an innocent rural village boy to leader of a band of terrorists called The Freedom Fighters to being perceived as a maniacal Dai Lee puppet, Jet would never go down without a fight. Follows Jet's story, one that doesn't necessarily end in Lake Laogai.


**91 A.G. (91 years after Sozin's Comet), Earth Kingdom Village 1000 km East of Gaoling**

As the first fires were set on clothes-lines and huts on the outskirts of the village, a young boy by the river bank playing with figurines looked up in confusion and shock when he heard the anguished screams. Quickly putting down his toys, he looked up in horror as black smoke dominated the hazy mountain fog.

He ran fast, faster than he had ever before. He sprinted through a shortcut in the forest, tripping through brambles to reach his house.

"Mama! Pa! What's happening?" He cried. But no one answered. The house was not empty, but the occupants ignored him.

"Mama?" He asked, eyes widening as their visitors, _Fire Nation_, sneered at his parents, who were seated protectively around Yawen, his elder sister.

The Fire Nation soldiers were big and ugly, wearing shiny red and black plated armor. There were three of the men in his house, one talking lowly to his father in a threatening growl, and the other two standing guard on his mother and sister.

From outside, the boy couldn't hear what was being said, but it wasn't good.

He was so scared. Why did the Fire Nation have anything to do with his father? He knew the Fire Nation people to be savage and cruel from others, but he had never thought that they would want anything to do with his family because _they were good people_.

Suddenly, the largest Man gruffly ordered, "Boy, come inside with your parents and sister." The Man did acknowledge the boy with his gaze, instead of keeping his eyes on the father.

The boy shook with fright. He did not want to be in the house, and he did not want to obey Fire Nation _scum_.

"No." His mother cried loudly, "Jian, you mustn't be here. Run." She said, desperately.

Jian watched his mother say this with such emotion, confused and hurt that she never met his eye. Why did she turn her back to him? He was so shaken and scared, why did his parents ignore him?

Ignoring both instructions, he tried again, "Pa? Why are there men here?"

Jian's father did not answer, but Yawen, his sister, older than him by nine years, turned her face towards him. Yawen's eyes were shining with tears and face puffy as she mouthed '_Run! They will kill you.'_

Still, Jian's body refused to move. He even did not grasp what was about to occur. As smoke carried by the wind off of neighboring house blinded his eyes, he still did not budge. He could not leave without his family.

Then he heard the Man speak louder, clear enough to reach his ears, "If you do not comply, we could chase and run down your son. He is young, not fast enough to outpace my younger soldiers yet. Or, we could take your daughter, these two men here would love to get acquainted with such a lovely Earth Kingdom woman." He addressed Father cruelly.

One of the Fire Nation guards looked over at his sister with Man's words. Yawen cowered under the crude gaze but kept her eyes steeled. His sister was a strong woman and never submitted anything.

Mother cried harder still with the words, trembling.

Father cooly met the Fire Nation leader's gaze, "We will not betray our kingdom. We will not give you the satisfaction you want." He said proudly, but his brown eyes shone with sadness and regret.

Jian was still afraid, but as he heard his father's reassurance, he braced himself to run. If he could get away, his father's spirit would win over the Fire Nations. He was terrified, confused, and hurt, but he knew he could never let Father down.

Tears and the smog of the fires burned his eyes nastily, but Jian kept his eyes wide open, burning his family's faces into his vision.

Father, a plump man with the kindest wisest smiles in the world. Who as a merchant was so knowledgeable and worldly.

Mother, tall and beautiful, who loved to sing and read to him, and always wore the clearest brightest emerald jewelry in honor of their country.

—And Yawen, his smart and wonderful sister with her long braids, sharp features, and a dozen pretty silk robes to match any occasion.

They had been a happy family. His parents were admired in their community for their kind and open nature. Father was once poor and had to work hard as a porter for travelers before he became successful as the most prominent merchant in the area.

They did not have close to the amount of money from the top of society like the Beifong's did, but they were the most prominent in town, living in a large wooden house instead of the common huts.

The Fire Nation man asked Father to reveal something he was hiding from them for the second time, but again, he refused. Father would never reveal anything that might help the Fire Nation hurt more of their people.

Finally, the leader realized that there was no negotiation to be done with the wealthy merchant. He grew flushed in the face with frustration. He ordered the men to kill.

"Can I have the girl, sir?" The younger guard asked.

The leader watched his father's stormy expression and nodded.

"No." Jian cried, voice ringing into the house as the occupants looked over to him, only a young boy covered in snot and tears. "No." He repeated, voice fading.

"No… have mercy on our children." Mother begged. Father did not budge, eyes resolved, but sad.

Yawen was scared, but Jian saw that she was trying to be brave. After all, she, too, believed her spirit would remain intact under any abuse and molestation of the corrupt and evil. Yawen smiled and spat at the feet of the leader, and the guards grappled her to the floor.

She screamed, kicking, and Jian could not watch. He wanted to help her, but he was so terror-stricken and powerless.

Jian saw them beat and grope his beloved sister. He screamed and yelled, only stopping when she appeared motionless on the ground. He had never seen such cruelty in his life, and he mourned Yawen's courage.

The men set fire to his home while Jian was still whimpering, and mother and father clutching each other's hands. Jian did not understand what was happening. Why did these people do this?

Jian felt rage. Pure blistering hot anger boiling in his veins. He would kill these men and their families, and they would kill his Mother, Father, and sister.

They would burn.

"Jian." His father was calling out distantly, hoarsely in the smoke, "Son—we love you very much. But you— have to be brave and run. I know you will always stay strong. Please, leave us." He choked out.

"Pa?" Jian whispered to himself unbelievingly, Father had always felt so invincible and has always felt immortal to him as a younger boy. And at that moment, he had never seen another man so weak yet so strong.

The boy ran. He ran away from the flames licking at his feet, the scorching and smothering dark nothing wind encompassing the village. He ripped his sleeves to make a bandana to filter some of the ash out as he ran into the forest, the Fire Nation soldiers trailing him.

He was still weak from shock, and they were much faster and bigger than him. But Jian knew the forest well. He knew the landmarks to the next few towns, the animals, wild vegetables, and he used his knowledge to evade his captors.

He ran because it was Father's last wish and because he wanted to escape from the shame of not running in and saving his sister. A dark part of his mind told him he would never have been able to spare her, but he ignored it. He blanked out everything besides avoiding the enemy and the falling burning trees.

* * *

**2 months after, Unknown Area in the Mountain Range**

He had outsmarted the soldiers, but he knew that if he ever came into contact with the Fire Nation again and they found out about his family, they would execute him on behalf of his father's defiance.

Thus Ouyang Jian had to be erased. It was painful letting go of his name, for he knew it was impossible to completely let go of your true identity. But he had to, to survive and avenge his family.

Ouyang Jian, son of one of the most prosperous Earth Kingdom merchants outside of Ba Sing Sae, was forgotten and presumed dead, lost in the woodland, most likely dying of hunger and succumbing to eat one of the many poisonous and hallucinogenic mushrooms common in the mountain region.

Replacing the once happy and spoiled boy was a tired and cold orphan with hard, unyielding dark eyes and a sullen face.

Jian shuffled through a few names, Li, Yahui, Jun, all names of old friends until he realized that he should pick a new name for himself to reflect his new identity. Finally, he picked a type of jewel his mother had pointed out to him in her collection long ago.

_Jet. The stone of mourning it reminded him of what was taken from him._

Jet was Ouyang Jian's polar opposite. They shared the same memories, but Jian died with his family. Jet was only the remainder, he only survived for one purpose. To carry out his families' last wish. To be free of the captors, of the _Fire Nation_.

Young and helpless, and only eight years old, Jian would've been repulsed by what he now wore. Bright olive and sea green silks were ripped and caked in mud and sweat. He would've run back to the house and to the familiar village, where they would've gotten caught.

But _Jet _moves forward, never looking back, for if he does, he might lose the anger that keeps him alive against the wet monsoon season, lack of food, and the elements attacking the sheltered boy.

_He will not forget or forgive, but he would survive to live another day_. _He will survive long enough to avenge his family, his village and friends, and the Earth Kingdom people by wiping out the Fire Nation presence in his country. If he had to grow up and kill the Fire Lord when even the Avatar had given up, he would._

And Jet, drenched, starving, hurting and confused, and alone, continued to fight and move onward.

* * *

**Unknown Date, Edge of Foggy Swamp**

The boy found himself wandering out of the mountain range after a few months. It was rainy season without a map, he had no way to navigate through the area. People he'd run into in some of the rural mountain villages had given him directions, but most places were isolated from the rest of the world, and years of rain had changed the landscape. Thus many directions were vague and not helpful.

It was a huge risk to go through the rural and mostly uninhabited parts of the mountains, but he would rather die than go back to the Fire Nation areas.

To survive, he sold his silks and gold watch for a fire starter rock, knives, and candy. He had meant to buy other food, but the more he thought about it, he convinced himself to pick the sweet hard candy. They were in a large pouch and didn't go bad. Despite the cold and hunger, the candy made him a bit more hopeful.

But the boy couldn't survive on only candy, he knew he would have to hunt. Thankfully, despite the rain and overcast, foggy forestland, there was plenty to catch. He could outrun or outwit the slow birds who could not fly and small rodents and marmots, but his favorite, if he had to pick, was the hares.

Hares took a lot of time and planning to hunt, but they have had the most meat on them out of the creatures he could catch.

Sometimes he ran into the young of bigger animals, but he resisted his hunger; it wasn't worth it to die because of passing a meal to survive. He had to stay in safe areas and scan when he was moving, for he knew of the fearsome mountain leopards and tigers that guarded the sierras.

As he had first spotted the vast forested swamp, he was relieved. He had learned basic geography back in his village and knew the Great Swamp was close to Omashu.

_Omashu_, the city that Father would talk about in his travels. It was very safe and friendly, unlike Ba Sing Se. Omashu was great for merchants and business and didn't tax nearly as much as the Great City.

And now making his way down the last ridge of the mountainous region that spanned a few thousand miles, the land he called his home. He said goodbye.

He locked his eyes on the tiny rocky terrain in the horizon beyond the swamp. Omashu was over there!

The swamp for actually a lush jungle. The fog was even thicker than in the rainy mountains he'd left, and Jet found himself walking in circles.

After days of avoiding catgators and resigning himself to eat large bugs and grub, he sighed salivating his dinner of hare and rat weeks ago.

Bugs were very slimy or crunchy. He preferred to cook them until they were hard and burnt. That way, it made full and felt less disgusting.

However, he was queasy about his new food source, he was grateful. A giant pill bug would help him survive one more day.

The swamp wasn't that bad. After a few days, he found a deer-path that was clear and safe.

However, after eating all those bugs, Jet knew he had gotten sick or poisoned. Sometimes he would see ghosts of friends, neighbors, and his family. Sometimes even, he would talk to dragons.

He compared the visions to how sometimes his brain made stuff up after putrid fevers and when his Ma would force-feed him that expensive herbal medicine.

He rejected the idea of him being insane, it was definitely something in the bugs. Sometimes impoverished kids who had lived in the very poor part of his village would go off and hallucinate things after eating wild mushrooms in a bout of hunger. Those mushrooms had a poison that made the children dream when they were awake and die afterward, skin all pale and face ashen, covered in blood.

But thankfully, the bugs only made him a little crazy. He was pretty sure they wouldn't kill him.

Unfortunately, the spirits he deliriously hallucinated were painful. Some were of Mama and Father, lost like him but very confused and blank. Their sad and lost expressions hurt and unsettled him. They wouldn't recognize him but were always moaned about being reunited with him and Yawen.

Although he was wandering and confused, he wasn't aimless, and was full of rage that fuelled his drive. Unlike the shades of his beloved parents, he was real and still alive, he wouldn't let them get into his head.

Then there was Yawen's spirit. She looked as she did weeks before she'd died. She was wearing sea-green robes and a golden headpiece, symbolizing her first time going to a festival as a lady. Unlike his parents, Yawen always was present.

She would come up to him as he walked through the swamp silently, and would brush his hair with her manicured fingers. She would protect him from the cat gators at night, and although she didn't speak, she listened to him. He knew his mind was trying to comfort him, perhaps a survival instinct but, Yawen felt so real.

Even though she was dressed in finery, purple bruises still littered her face, and as she floated beside him, bright ghostly blood flowed out of her throat, where one of the soldiers presumably slit it before they were set on fire; small mercies from the monsters.

Yawen was a paradox to him. Her shade was his protector, but yet he couldn't save her, she was already _gone_.

It was hard, so hard to resist slumping over on a tree stump and giving up. He wanted to end everything. This existence of foraging and stealing to survive, coupled with visions of ghosts, was unbearable.

But he couldn't die. He wouldn't, he'd live for his family, for the Earth kingdom. Jet would never forget what the Fire Nation did to his family.

END chapter 1

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AN: Would love reviews/feedback since I'm a new author. Anything to help me become better :)


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